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Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

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Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#331

Post by PostThisTooFast »

sudosysgen wrote: post #243
ptero wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They might control the DSLR space, but they certainly hold no candle to Sony, Fujifilm, and co in the mirrorless space. Agreed, but mirrorless is not a full replacement for DSLR, at least not yet. For static scenes in good light my phone camera is already all I need. For static scenes (or slow motion) in lower light mirrorless seems now just as good as DSLR (so they eat some of DSLR market). But for fast motion or…

Have you seen videos of the Sony a9 Ii? It can autofocus moving subjects and take a picture in a twentieth of a second (!) So no, I don't think DSLRs have better autofocus than mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless cameras can also do things like eye AF, video tracking AF, and so on.

Canon film cameras had eye tracking in the ‘90s.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#332

Post by jon_elbrook »

noncoml wrote: post #32
akersten wrote: post #5

Sad to see them go - photography's such a great hobby and having competition in the space is healthy. There's a few brands out there still, but there is a noticable stigma in the professional community around equipment that isn't Canon. If you're not using L-glass, it feels like you get the same kind of judgement that Android users experience when they show up with green texts in iMessage. As a matter of principle, I…

> there is a noticable stigma in the professional community around equipment that isn't Canon. If you're not using L-glass, it feels like you get the same kind of judgement that Android users experience when they show up with green texts in iMessage. Especially for Cameras and Lenses that's solely on user's mind. Your photos speak for themselves. You absolutely don't need Canon or L glass. BTW, maybe you are not up t…

Sony is the new king for enthusiasts who spend their time watching youtube videos of pixel peepers trying to see which lens has the highest resolution or which sensor works best at ISO 12800.

for pros, the ruggedness, battery life, support, autofocus of dslrs are still important.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#333

Post by _ph_ »

etangent wrote: post #235
_ph_ wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never used an Olympus, never understood the point of one. I see a connection there :). The Olympus cameras are extremely capable, yet small in size. An E-M10 or E-M5 have a tiny body and there are extremely compact lenses to match them. Yet, despite the smaller sensor (compared to 35mm) you don't sacrifice much of image quality (or none at all for many tasks) due to the excellent lenses.

> The Olympus cameras are extremely capable, yet small in size. That advantage evaporated after Sony released A7 in 2013, which was almost equal in size yet contained a vastly larger and more capable sensor. Olympus hung on while A7 line was still expensive, but now that one can get an older used model for as much as a new micro-four-thirds one, Olympus bit the dust. Many saw this coming for a long while.

No, the advantage did not evaporate with the A7. Yes, the body of an A7 is pretty close to the mFT counterparts - though for a really tiny body look at the E-M10 and the E-M5, these are a step smaller than the Sony.

But the one thing which did not shrink are the lenses. Actually modern designs rather grow the lenses. Look at the Olympus 25/1.8, 45/1.8, they are tiny. And of course on the long side, look at the difference of a 40-150/2.8 and 300/4 to their counterparts. This is where mFT wins big time.

This is why I kept buying into mFT, because my Olympus kit in total is significantly more compact than any 35mm equivalent.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#334

Post by _ph_ »

127 wrote: post #300
_ph_ wrote: post #165

One thing to notice is: Olympus is NOT shutting down the camera business. It gets split off the Olympus coproration and is supposed to run as an independant company. Of course that could mean a later death, but it can also mean that it continues to prosper as management might take new directions. Also, while still producing a deficit, the camera division managed to improve the balances quite a bit over the last year.…

I think a lot depends on how well they can keep up with the sensor technology. Sony seems to have the market cornered on that front.

Quite a few of the Olympus sensors are made by Sony. At any time, they could pick up some money and just ask Sony to give them a new sensor design. This is one hope I have, that after the split-off, new money is invested in updating the sensors.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#336

Post by jon_elbrook »

Someone1234 wrote: post #14

That's a legitimate shame for open standards. M43 has its proponents and critics, but either way it is rare to see a somewhat successful multi-vendor standard in photography that actually worked . The main problem is that the market itself has been shrinking, and there's just not enough room to have so much competition (Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fuji, Canon, and Nikon). M43 was successful, but it succeeded in an area…

m43 is a strategic mistake. There's not enough differentiation from smartphones.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#337

Post by rimliu »

m0zg wrote: post #22

Sad, but inevitable, after Nikon stopped dragging its feet. I used Oly cameras for a few years, mostly due to their compact size and excellent in-body stabilization. But then Nikon released Z6 and I switched to that. Not much larger, much better image quality (Sony looks too "blue" for me), great usability, great stabilization, great glass so far. Still Olympus OM-D series were excellent cameras.

Z6 may be compact, but the lenses for FF will be big, heavy and expensive anyway. Also, I do not think that anyone came close to Olympus IBIS.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#338

Post by fgdfgddfg »

jetrink wrote: post #221
IMAYousaf wrote: post #161

As someone with a huge photography itch and a gear nerd who actually isn't a practitioner, can someone with domain expertise in photography and cameras give some insights or predictions in to what they see as the future of photography? I have a sophomoric understanding of the shift from SLR --> DSLR --> Sony led Mirrorless cameras. Where do we go from here? How do things like Hasselblad's X1D II entry level medium fo…

My prediction is that full frame cameras will eventually be squeezed out by APS-C and medium format. On one side, medium format cameras are shrinking in both size and price. The Canon 5D Mark IV is thicker, taller and heavier than Fuji's GFX 50R[1]. Medium format cameras aren't quite as small as full frame mirrorless cameras, but they are no longer impractically large either. If image quality is paramount, size and c…

Medium format cameras will still have bigger lenses compared to FF, regardless of the body size, due to the sensor size. This usually the show stopper, since lots of people have had FF DSLRs with the extra battery holder, etc.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#339

Post by rimliu »

sudosysgen wrote: post #62
ancharm wrote: post #48

Another death by iPhone

They really got their ass handed to them by Sony, Fuji and Panasonic more than anything. The market for high quality interchangeable lens cameras hasn't gone anywhere and isn't going anywhere, but Sony and co really shook it up by modernizing it, and made a lot of Olympus tech obsolete. I'll never understand how Olympus decided to sell a camera with a sensor a fourth the size of an A7 at the same price. That said, th…

Oh boy, there is way more to photography than sensor size. Olympus was a pioner in many of that and not surpassed in some of that. They have the best IBIS, some innovative computational photography stuff and amazing weather proofing.

I am glad Olympus decided to sell M43 cameras, as those are you actually take with you.

Re: Olympus quits camera business after 84 years

#340

Post by efreak »

dr_zoidberg wrote: post #224
ben7799 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pros love Canon cause their service stomps all over everyone else, the equipment is just the cherry on top. They're more like a partner in someone's business than just a retailer. Seriously.. their service is so fantastic & easy to work with it puts you at ease shooting with their expensive stuff. I think this has more to do with it than anything to do with sensors or almost anything else when it comes to really seri…

Some 10 years ago, they refurbished a PowerShot A75 of mine that my father had bought in 2004. 5 years after fabrication, they identified a couple of batches that had been produced with bad sensors, and the cameras affected died a strange death. I had lost all warranty papers, but my local photography shop insisted that I contacted Canon. Had to leave the camera on the official service office, and a month later I had…

I wish more companies would do this. I get that sdcards, headphones, etc are cheap and have low profit margins, but I've had eg Samsung ask for proof of purchase on an 8gb sdcard only a year after the model/product id was released (2015ish, I think? It had a 5 year warranty; the card came with a device from a friend, so no receipt). Other companies do the same. I can't imagine that warranty fraud is that big of an issue on small things.
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